Organization charts

What is an organizational chart

Organizational chart is a diagram that defines distribution of responsibility and authority within a company for accurate management, establishment of communications between the departments, determination of subordination and liability. Organizational charts show formal relationships between staff, showing directors, managers and general workers. Through organizational charts, employees can see the working relationships of an organization’s personnel and who is responsible to whom as well as the levels of hierarchy.

Organizational chart relationships

Organizational charts describe relationships of four types:

• Line: show direct relations between superiors and subordinates. - Lateral: show relationships at various departmental levels, but on the same hierarchical level.
• Staff: show relationships between managerial assistants and other areas where assistant is able to offer an advice to a line manager, but not liable over his actions and has no authority over him.
• Functional: show relationships between specialist positions and other areas where specialists have authority over line managers.

Why use organizational charts

Organizational charts help officers establish clear management procedures within a company, as all relationships are represented visually. It allows for determination of problem areas and their immediate elimination.

Organizational charts help employees understand the main players in the organization and their relationships with other people within the organization. Employees should have a clear idea of whom to start with in case of any matters or issues in order to comply with the existing protocol and corporate standards. Organizational charts are mainly helpful in the communication process, as every employee knows who is who and it will help him to address other personnel appropriately and professionally.

The only limitation of organizational charts is that they depict only formal structure of the company and no human and social relationships between the people in the company. They also don’t show management style adopted in the organization.

How Grapholite can help

Grapholite allows you to create even the most complicated organizational charts in a couple of minutes by offering the following abilities:

• smart drawing tools, automatic connectors and shape library to create organizational charts;
• ability to work in online and offline modes; in and out of browser;
• export to the most commonly used picture and document formats.

How to Draw a Basic Organizational Chart

The easiest way to draw a new organizational chart is to use Grapholite. Simply choose New from the File menu, then just drag-and-drop the necessary shapes according to the company hierarchy and show relationships by the arrows.